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LIBRARY OF CON GRESS. 

Chap . ^ X^^/y 
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UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 



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The President communicated a paper on the life and.char- 
acter of Jd4]iir_Pitcairn, from an Associate Member, the Hon . 
Charles Hudson, saying : — " ' 

\^^''' My valued friend and former colleague in Congress, Hon. 
Charles Hudson, one of our Resident Members, but whose 
health has not allowed him to attend our meetings of late, 
has sent me a paper to present in his name. Residing at 
Lexington, and having published an elaborate liistory of that 
town, his attention has recently been turned to the conduct 
and character of Major John Pitcairn, who was one of the 
leaders of the British march to Concord, on the 19th of April, 
1775, and who has the credit, if credit it be, of having given 
the order to fire first on the Provincials on that morning. Mr. 
Hudson has been impressed by the general good disposition 
and character of Pitcairn, who was afterward mortally 
wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill, and he has given a 
sketch of his conduct and career in a manuscript of many 
pages, written carefully by his own hand, in the eighty-fifth 
year of his age. 

I propose to read a portion of it only, and then to refer it, 
with the concurrence of the Society, to the Committee on the 
publication of our Proceedings. I am sure it will be read 
with interest when it shall appear in print. Meantime, the 
Society will not fail to authorize me to assure our venerable 
Associate — one of the ablest and honestest men whom Massa- 
chusetts has ever had in her service — of the gratification we 
all have had in hearing from him on a subject on which he is 
so peculiarly at home. 

\ I 

Mr. Hudson's communication, " The Character of Major 
John Pitcairn, the British officer, who opened the Drama of / 
the American Revolution, on the 19th of April, 1775," here 
follows : — 

Nothing is more natural than for men who feel themselves op- 
pressed to curse the rod by which they are smitten. The multitude, 



^ 




> 



316 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan. 

especially at the time wlien they feel the oppression, do not stop to 
inquire who originated the system. They see the agent who executes 
the painful order, and they are disposed tq hold him responsible. In 
this way they virtually allow themselves to be imposed upon, and so 
ascribe to the agent what really belongs to the principal. A striking 
instance of this occun-ed during our Revolution. The people thouglit, 
nay, they knew, that they were oppressed. They knew that the 
premier of the realm of England was generally appointed from the 
fact that he approved of the policy of the administration, and was de- 
pended upon to aid and carry forward the designs of the crown. They 
inferred that Lord North, the king's adviser, was in fact the author of 
the oppressive and arbitrary acts by which they were suflPerintif. 

Their views were expressed in the following stanza of a ballad : — 

"Lord North was as chill as the bleak Arctic Ocean, 
A natural-born tyrant was he ; 
His dark breast ne'er glowed with a generous emotion, — 
He hated the brave and the free." ' 

But a knowledge of all the flicts in the case has led to the convic- 
tion that North was among the most liberal of the ministry, was op- 
posed to the general policy of the administration, and in fact, at one 
time, tendered his resignation to his Majesty for that very reason. 
But the king refused to accept it. North, who had received special favors 
from the king, felt that he could not in honor forsake him in the midst 
of his trouble with his colonies, and concluded that by remaining he 
might be able to check some severities, and so aid the cause of en- 
lightened statesmanship. 

This example should teach us caution, and induce us to withhold 
our condemnation of Major Pitcairn, whose character we propose to 
present, until we have made ourselves acquainted with all the facts 
in the case. That he was a brave and active officer, all will admit ; 
and that, being a subordinate officer, he acted in obedience to others. 
We are fully sensible of the injustice and cruelty practised upon us ; 
but the question is, who was the author of this injustice and oppres- 
sion ? 

The state of things when Pitcairn came in contact with us was 
peculiar, and should be duly considered before we decide where the 
censure ought to rest. There were at that time practically two co- 
existent governments. The one, represented by General Gage, was a 
mere despotism, resting on certain arbitrary, unconstitutional acts of 
the British Parliament, The government thus attempted to be forced 
upon the colony virtually annulled our charter, and deprived us of all 
the rights, privileges, and immunities of P^nglishmen, which had been 
granted by that charter, and confirmed by the constitution of England. 
This new despotic government deprived us of the right of trial by jury 
in our own vicinage, and rendered us liable to be sent to Great Britain 
for trial ; took from us the long-established privilege of holding 
public meetings ; robbed us of the right of electing our counsellors, 
sheriffs, and representatives ; of granting the salaries of our judges and 



1880] LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MAJOR PITCAIEN. 317 

Other officers ; and, in fact, of passing any laws to promote our local 
prosperity and happiness. These arbitrary measures Gage was sent 
to execute, and a large military force was assigned to that service. 
Gage had already commenced the exercise of these extraordinary 
powers. He had seized the share of powder belonging to Charles- 
town, and had by proclamation forbidden the meeting of the Provincial 
Congress, and all assemblies for deliberation, under severe penalties. 

But there was at the same time another government in the colony 
of Massachusetts, — a government of the "people. This government 
claimed the right to exercise all the powers granted by their charter, 
and such as they had exercised from the first, under the eye and with 
the approval of the British authority. They asked for no new powers, 
assumed no additional prerogative, and made no changes in their form 
of government, except such as Gage himself had forced upon them. 
He had dissolved the legislature, and had refused to order a new 
election, though urgently asked to do it, and had |)ractically with- 
drawn from the exercise of all executive care under our charter. To 
supply these defects, so as to keep alive a govei'nment, the people had 
substituted the Provincial Congress for the legislature, and given to 
the Committee of Safety such executive and military powers as they 
deemed necessary to give life and vigor to their organization. 

The immediate policy and objects of these conflicting governments 
were well defined and known to the people. Gage's government was 
to enforce the recent acts of Parliament ; and the government of the peo- 
ple was to oppose and resist that enforcement. The difference in the two 
cases was this, — Gage's officers were to enforce their orders at the 
point of the bayonet, if necessary ; while the officers of the Provincial 
Congress were expressly commanded not to commence open military 
hostilities by firing, unless they were first fired upon. This was the 
exact state of the case on the 18th of April, 1775. It was obvious that 
this state of things must soon lead to an open rupture. The impatience 
of Gage to show his devotion to the ministry would prompt him to 
take some measure to enforce their arbitrary acts ; and the fixed deter- 
mination of the provincials to obstruct the execution of these acts 
must have been foreseen. The scene which occurred at Lexington 
was but the natural result of the policy of Gage. And a better field 
could not have been chosen to test the firmness of the Americans. 
The military spirit of Hancock, the broad and enlightened statesman- 
ship of Adams, and tlte religious patriotism of Clarke, had prepared 
the peo[)le for the event which awaited them. What occurred there is 
well known, and need not be repeated here. 

Our object is to show who the guilty party was, or, to be more 
specific, whether Major Pitcairn was censurable for the part he acted 
on that occasion. It should be borne in mind that he was a subordi- 
nate officer, and of course acted under the direction of others. It is 
also well known that he was always open and frank in avowing the 
part he took at that time ; and neither Smith nor Gage charged 
him with exceeding his instructions. Nor does the fact that he was 
the sole commander at the time the order to fire was sriven alter the 



318 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan. 

case in the least. He knew the object of the expedition, and, more- 
over, that thej were to destroy the military stores at Concord, and to 
remove any and every obstacle which might obstruct their march, 
impede their movement, or prevent their snccess. As the sole object 
of the expedition was to disarm the Americans, and so render them 
unable to resist the mandates of Gage, he knew that destroying or 
seizing small-arms at Lexington was securing that object as eflectually 
as the destruction of cannon at Concord. The whole responsibility 
of the attack at Lexington rests upon Pitcairn. Some have attempted 
to remove the obliquity from Pitcairn to Smith by declaring that the 
Colonel was upon the common when the firing commenced. We do 
not see that this alters the principle for which we contend, that the 
officer who gave the order to tire acted under instructions. If it were 
Smith, he acted under the order of Gage ; and if it were Pitcairn, he 
acted under the order of Smith. 

Besides, there is no reliable evidence that .Smith was on the com- 
mon when the firing commenced. He halted some six or eight miles 
below Lexington, and sent back for a reinforcement, and at the same 
time detailed Pitcairn with the light troops to move on to Concord 
with all due despatch, and take possession of the bridges. Pitcairn 
was not the man to loiter, and when he was met by the Lexinjrton 
messenger a mile or so below the town, he is represented as marching 
rapidly upon the village. In this distance of seven or eight miles, he 
must have gained considerably upon the troops under Smith, and as 
the command to fire was given immediately as the troops rushed upon 
the common, we cannot believe that Smith was there when the firing 
commenced. We know of but two depositions which seem to sustain 
the position that Smith gave the order to fire; and these were given by 
two aged gentlemen fifty years after the event, and really amount to 
little more than this, — that they saw an officer on horseback, whom 
they took to be Smith, ride forward and give the order. But Pitcairn 
in his manliness never attempted to throw off the responsibility upon 
any one. He admitted that he gave the order, and always attempted 
to justify himself by saying ti)at he simply returned the tire of the 
Americans. And Smith, in his report to Gage, after stating that he 
sent forth Pitcairn with the light companies, says : " On these compa- 
nies' arrival at Lexington, / understand from the report of Major Pit- 
cairn, who was with them^ and from many officers, that they found on 
a green close to the road a body of the country people drawn up in 
military order, with arms and accoutrements, and as appeared after, 
loaded, &c." Here the Colonel tells us plainly that he was not present 
to witness the occurrences ; but that he had his information from Major 
Pitcairn, who was present. If this statement needed any further con- 
firmation, we have it in the report officially made by General Gage. 
He says: "About three o'clock the next morning [April 19, 1775], 
the troops [of Pitcairn] being advanced within two miles of Lexing- 
ton, intelligence was received that about five hundred men in arms 
were assembled and determined to oppose the king's troops ; and on 
Major Pitcairn's galloping up to the head of the advanced companies, 



1880.] LIFE AND CHAEACTER OF MAJOR PITCAIRN. 319 

two officers informed him that a man, advanced from those that were 
assembled, had presented his musket, and attempted to shoot them, 
but the piece flashed in the pan ; on this the Major gave direction to 
the troops to move forward. &c." And after describing the dispersion 
of the Americans, and the firing of tlie king's troops, he says in a new 
paragraph, " After this Colonel Smith marched up, with the remainder 
of the detachment, and the whole body proceeded to Concord." 

The evidence therefore is conclusive that the troops at their arrival 
at the common, and at the fatal discharge upon the minute-men, were 
under the control and direction of Pitcairn, and that Smith with the 
remainder of the detachment did not arrive at the field until after the 
fatal volley was fired. But it seems unnecessary to labor this point, 
as Pitcairn with his usual frankness always assumed the responsibility 
of giving the order to fire, and justified his course by the plea that the 
Americans commenced the contest by firing upon the king's troops, 
and that he only returned the shot. Though the evidence on which 
reliance is placed is very far from sustaining the position that the 
firing was commenced by the Americans, we are unwilling to pass it 
by without comment. Pitcairn makes it a full ground of defence in 
giving the order to fire. We are ready to admit, and shall endeavor 
to show more fully, that the order to fire upon the minute-men drawn 
up in martial array needs no justification from him ; but we must in- 
sist that the evidence on which he rests his case is far-fetched and 
inconclusive. He does not pretend that he saw or heard the discharge 
of any gun, but virtually admits that he had no knowledge of any 
such fact ; that he relied entirely upon the statement of otliers. And 
to what does this hearsay statement amount ? Simply this — that as 
he rode forward to the head of his column, two officers informed him 
that they saw an individual snap his gun at them, and that the gun 
only flashed in the pan. They did not pretend to know whether the 
gun was loaded or not ; or, if loaded, whether it contained a ball, or 
whether it was a mere blank cartridge. Other facts must be taken 
into the account. This firing was in the early dawn when the flash in 
the pan could be seen at a considerable distance, so that they could not 
tell whether the musket was aimed at them or not. 

It must also be remembered that Captain Parker, having no certain 
knowledge that the British were approaching (the messengers he had 
sent to ascertain whether the British were really coming, having been 
captured and detained), had dismissed his company about two o'clock 
that morning, with order to assemble at the ringing of the bell and 
the firing of alarm-guns. The last messenger, more fortunate than 
his predecessors, escaped from the toils of the cautious foe, and re- 
turned post-haste to the common and informed Captain Parker that 
he discovered the king's troops about a mile below, moving rapidly 
upon the village. The bell was immediately rung, and the alarm- 
guns fired. It is probable that the whole period from the time the 
messenger announced the tidings of the rapid approach of the king's 
troo{)S, to the actual arrival of these troops at the common, was not 
more than twenty or twenty-five minutes ; and in the hurry and con- 



320 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [JaxV. 

fusion of the moment, some of these calls upon the minute-men to 
repair to their post would naturally if not necessarily be continued 
till the British advatice were in sight of the common. 

It was undoubtedly the flash of one of these alarm-guns which the 
British officers mistook for a shot aimed at them. This misapprehen- 
sion on the part of these officers, and of Pitcairn himself, is the more 
easily accounted for, from the fact that they had but a short time be- 
fore been informed that a large force had assembled at Lexington to 
oppose their passage. Pitcairn had also another reason which would 
incline him to the opinion that an attack would be made upon his men 
at Lexington. He had but a short time before captured Benjamin 
"Wellington, one of Parker's minute-men, who was coming from the 
south-easterly part of the town to join the company on the common. 
Wellington was found to be duly armed, which looked like military 
resistance. Pitcairn took his gun fi'om him, and extorted the promise 
that he would return peaceably to his own home. All these things 
occurring at the moment, and the responsibility resting upon him, 
would in a great measure deprive Pitcairn at the time of that cool 
deliberation which he would naturally exercise under other circum- 
stances, Pitcairn must have been an ardent, impulsive, and enthusias- 
tic man, to have drawn the conclusion he did from sucli facts as were 
stated to him. The very efforts which he always made to justify the 
order which he gave, shows that his zeal was greater than his knowl- 
edge ; otherwise he would have relied upon the soldier's sure justitica- 
tion, — orders froin a superior. We are the more surprised from the 
fact that Pitcairn was bred to the profession of arms, and we should 
naturally have expected that, like Corporal Trim, he would have made 
orders his sole guide. 

We condemn the conduct of the British at Lexington. Their 
policy was unworthy any civilized nation ; but Pitcairn was not the 
author of that policy. We are now dealing with him, and not with 
the nation whose servant he was. The act was wrong, but was he 
answerable ? He olieyed orders, and what else could he do ? To dis- 
obey would subject him to a court-martial and condign jiunishment. 
To resign in the face of the enemy, or in the hour of danger, has 
always been regarded a military offence. If we approve of war in 
any case, we must support an army ; and to do this, we must conform in 
some degree to the maxims which have been found necessary to keep an 
army together. It has been found imperative to prohibit deliberation 
in the army. The great and good Lafayette, popular as he was, was 
condemned and imprisoned by the French government for what they 
decided to be deliberation in the arrmj. Knowing the general policy or 
desire of his government, the soldier, in the absence of orders, must 
act on those general principles which would govern a sentinel on his 
post, or a skirmisher on duty. He cannot expect to have a superior 
always by his side. An officer thus situated may have and generally 
has discretion so far as mode and manner, time and place, are con- 
cerned ; but the grand object of the expedition as well as his express 
orders must be obeyed. The general sentiment of the people, ihe 



1880.] LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MAJOR PITCAIRN. 321 

design of tlie expedition, the atmospheric order, if we may be allowed 
the expression, is and should be regarded as controlling as a verbal 
or written order. This general sentiment, this prevailing -wish or 
demand, not only governed the British, but the Americans at that 
time. Colonel Barrett at Concord, Captain Wilson of Bedford, and 
Captain Baldwin of Woburn, and others acted on this princLjile, 
and acted wisely. Neither they nor others had any superior at 
hand to order the attack ; but the whole community had passed 
upon tlie question, and resistance was the watchword. Such was 
the determination of the Americans, and the British were equally 
determined in tlieir policy. War, morally considered, existed be- 
fore the scene at Lexington occurred. The two governments were 
morally in hostile array against each other. The government rep- 
resented by Gage were in fact the rebels. They had ignored the 
great principles, the solid foundation of English liberty ; and while 
they were trampling their own organic law mider foot, they were de- 
termined to crush out liberty in America, and deprive the colonists of 
the sacred rights which the king and Parliament had guai'anteed to 
them. The Colonial Government planted themselves, or rather re- 
mained on their charter, which was an embodiment of English liberty. 
The hirelings of Gage had already drawn the sword, while the minute- 
men of the colony stood firm with their hands upon the hilt of their 
swords, which they were determined to draw to ward off a blow from 
hostile steel, and to use freely in case a blow was struck or a thrust 
aimed at them. 

In this state of things, and with these feelings, an open rupture 
must soon occur, and we should be willing to grant the same indul- 
gence to the British subordinate officers that we claim for our own. 
We have seen that the provincials were as bent upon resistance as the 
British were, except that they were resolved not to commence the war. 
But after the British had broken the peace by attacking and slaughter- 
ing our citizens at Lexington, military officers and our citizens gener- 
ally felt themselves free to attack the king's troops whenever they 
'had an opportunity. The prohibition not to fire first was practically 
removed, so that they were as free to assail the British forces after 
the slaughter on the morning of the 19th, as the British officers were 
to attack our soldiers before. 

If this position be sound, Pitcairn was no more censurable for the 
acts of that morning than our captains and subalterns were in attacking 
the Britisii in the afternoon ; — both were carrying out the policy of 
their respective governments, and were obeying orders express or im- 
plied. And if severe censure were due subordinate British officers, 
we see no reason why Pitcairn should be censured for his conduct at 
Lexington Common, any more than Cajotain Laurie for his conduct at 
the North Bridge at Concord. Neither had a superior at hand to order 
the firing upon the Americans. But they both knew their duty, and 
both obeyed the known object for which they were detailed ; and as 
soldiers they are not exposed to censure. 

A whole century has now passed, and our cause has been success- 

41 



322 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan. 

ful, and we can afford to be liberal. The person who has been the 
object of much rep.roach lived but a short time after the act which 
gave him at the time a bad reputation. In nothing is true heroism 
more conspicuous than in kind treatment of a fallen foe ; and after 
the lapse of a century, we should be not only willing, but proud to 
do justice to all those who, through misguided zeal, were once arrayed 
against us. Even if a crime were committed, time should wipe out 
the guilty stain. But in the case of the much-accused Major, we 
know nothing that we can truly call criminal. A story has been told 
that before leaving Concord, Pitcairn, with his hands reeking with 
blood, stirred his brandy with his fingers, uttering some vile impreca- 
tion upon the Americans. This story we think rests on very slender 
evidence. And besides, at that time no killed or wounded American 
had fallen into his hands ; and we cannot believe that he or any brave 
soldier would sport with the blood of his own men. Ilis epithets ap- 
plied to our citizens on the common may have led thousands to regard 
Pitcairn as a rough, unprincipled man. We readily admit that pro- 
fanity is not only ungentlemanly, but vulgar; but the foolish habit 
seems to have been the fashion of the camp ; and we wish it were con- 
fined to that department of public service. 

We confess that we are not able to detect any thing in the disci- 
pline or conduct of Pitcairn unworthy of a gentleman or an honorable 
commander. The character of an officer is generally reflected in the 
conduct of the men in his command. If the officer is prompt, brave, 
or moral, these qualities will be seen in the conduct of the men under 
his control. Judging of Pitcairn by this rule our impression of him 
must be favorable. Even the less efficient Smith restrained the 
natural passions of an ignorant soldiery. The fire in Concord village 
which induced the provincials on the hill to attempt to pass the North 
Bridge was the burning of a few gun-carriages, and this fire which 
caught upon the court-house was undoubtedly an accident, and was 
easily extinguished. And the facts compel us to say that we have 
discovered no general traces of barbarity until the troops became sub- 
ject to Percy's command, when a general system of vandalism pre- 
vailed. We do not censure him for any warlike attacks upon our 
troops, or for firing upon any dwelling within which our soldiers had 
taken refuge, and from which they assailed the king's troops. So far 
he would be justified by the laws of war. But if he practised acts of 
barbarity, or knowingly allowed them, he is justly censurable. A 
gystem of barbarity did prevail after Percy took the command of the 
forces. The soldiers entered the houses of the citizens on the plain in 
Lexington, demanding refreshments which were promptly granted to 
the utmost of the ability of the household ; and when the soldiers had 
consumed all the house afforded, they commenced a system of pillage, 
taking and carrying away whatever they deemed valuable, destroying 
furniture, and in several cases setting fire to the houses they had 
plundered. Even at the Munroe tavern, the head-quarters of Lord 
Percy, they not only marred and injured the building, hut they shot 
down in cold blood John Raj'mond, an aged servant in the family. 



1880.] LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MAJOR PITCAIRN. 323 

who had committed no offence, and who had furnished them with all 
the refreshments the house contained. 

And after leaving Lexington, the troops murdered two aged unarmed 
men whom they found peaceably in their dwelling. And the brutal 
soldiery not only invaded private dwellings in Arlington, but they 
forced their way into the chambnr of childbirth, where the feeble sub- 
ject was in bed, and one of the brutal soldiers presented his bayonet 
to her breast. On pleading for her life she was finally told that she 
might leave the house with her infant, as they were determined to set 
the house on fire. And though slie had not been able to walk across 
the room, the awful danger whicli awaited her so roused the reserved 
powers of her feeble condition, that she succeeded in crawling to an out- 
building on the premises with her infant, leaving five children in the 
house, which was set on fire, but the fire was happily extinguished, so 
that these children were saved. They also took from this house the 
communion service of the church. Such atrocities deserve the sever- 
est condemnation, and should blast for ever the character of any officer 
who should encourage or knowingly allow them. 

But discrimination should be used. Though these barbarities oc- 
curred while Percy was the commander of the king's troops, he is 
justly entitled to all the palliating circumstances which the case will 
allow. We should grant him all the indulgence so far as principle is 
concerned, that we have extended to Pitcairn. But the great change 
in the conduct of the king's troops which occurred immediately on 
the change of commanders certainly needs explanation. 

It is most probable that the soldiers who entered the houses on 
Lexington Plain, and committed atrocities there, were Smith's fugi- 
tives, as they had been longest suffering from hunger and fatigue. 
But, at the same time, it should be remembered that on the arrival of 
these fugitives, Percy formed his men in a hollow square to receive 
them on their approach, — thus taking them into his immediate care 
and keeping ; and any thing like the burning of a dwelling-house on 
the plain, in the immediate connection with his square, could not 
have escaped Percy's observation ; especially as one of the principal 
fires — that of a house with its barn and out-buildings — was not more 
than eight or ten rods from the field-piece on which he relied to keep 
the Provincials at bay, and which was frequently discharged while the 
tioops remained on the plain. And as for the barbarities committed 
at the Munroe tavern, Percy's own head-quarters, he can hardly escape 
the responsibility of allowing them. And allowing such vandalism in 
Lexington would naturally, in the estimation of an ignorant soldiery, 
be construed into a permission to commit such outrages elsewhere. 

There was an occurrence at Concord which may have excited 
the British to acts of barbarity. At the return fire of the Ameri- 
cans at the North Bridge in Concord, two of Captain Laurie's 
men fell, and were left some time upon the field, — one killed, 
the other mortally wounded. A rude, ignorant young man, who 
happened to be passing by, seeing the wounded man attempt to rise, 
approached him, and with a hatchet, which he happened to have in 



324 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan. 

liis hand, struck him several blows on his head, and thus ended his 
suffering. This unfortunate event, ordered by no one, and condemned 
by all, was seized upon by the British officers, and gave rise to the 
story told by Gage, that the Americans scalped, cut ofF the ears, and 
otherwise mutilated the English prisoners who fell into their hands. 
Such a belief would naturally exasperate the officers of the crown, and 
prompt them to deeds of barbarity. 

_ Percy is justly entitled to all the palliation which these combined 
circumstances and considerations can afford; but, after all, we feel 
constrained to say that they do not fully save him from the censure of 
being remiss in duty, and of allowing barbarities which a brave and 
honorable commander should have checked. We will not charge hira 
with wanton cruelty; but we fear that he relied too much upon his 
lineage, and looked forward with more earnestness to his prospective 
civil position, and the pleasures of the chase, than he did to the ob- 
servance of the rules of modern warfare. As compared with Pitcairn, 
we think that the gallant Major has left us a much brighter record 
than his lordship. 

Pitcairn was undoubtedly a brave and active officer. In the ex- 
pedition to Concord on the 19th of April, he appears to have been 
almost the sole actor. He was detailed to move rapidly with the 
light troops, and take possession of the bridges beyond Concord. He 
opened and closed the affairs at Lexington that moi-ning ; and when 
they arrived at Concord, the troops assigned to him were ordered. 
Captain Parsons to Colonel Barrett's, to destroy the stores, and Cap- 
tain Laurie to guard the North Bridge, so as to insure Parsons's safe 
return. And on the retreat from Concord no one appears more con- 
spicuous than the Major. Oppressed by the provincials, when the 
British troops entered Lexington on their retreat, they were but little 
more than a rabble rout. Smith and Pitcairn resolved to make one 
more effort to check their flight, and to restore something like order. 
They posted a small detail to hold the pursuers at bay, while they 
rushed to a woody defile some half a mile ahead, where they at- 
tempted to make a stand. In the mean time a party of the provincials 
had passed through the woods unobserved, and secreted themselves 
behind a lot of split rails near the road, almost opposite the place 
where the British were attempting to make their stand. Before their 
line was half formed their rear was driven in upon them, which created 
great confusion ; and the men, seeing Pitcairn ride across the road to 
restore order, rose from behind the rails, and poured in a well-directed, 
enfilading fire, by which Pitcairn was wounded, and fell from his 
horse. The animal, startled at the unexpected fire, and finding him- 
self unrestrained by cui"b or rein, bounded from the road with all his 
trappings, and gave himself up, as it were, a prisoner of war.* Smith 
was severely wounded at the same time. 

* The horse with his accoutrements was sold at auction, and the pistols 
were presented to tlie veteran General Putnam, who wore thera during his 
service in the Revolution. They have remained always in tlie family 



1880.] LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MAJOR PITCAIRN. 325 

Though it may be difficult to form a just estimate of a mau of Pit- 
cairu's eccentric nature, we will give our impressions of the man, — 
stating his merits and defects of character as they appear to us. We 
believe him to have been a brave, active, and conscientious soldier, 
devoted to the government in whose service he was employed ; and 
that the course he pursued on the 19th of April was fully justi- 
fied by the laws of war. The belief he always entertained that the 
Americans fired first is not necessary to be urged in defence of his 
conduct on that occasion ; and though he was probably sincere in that 
belief, it must have arisen from his natural credulity, and the excitement 
under which he w^as laboring, when he first formed that impression ; 
as the evidence on which he rested his belief when viewed by itself, 
cannot sustain his position for a moment ; and when it is confronted 
by the sworn testimony of twenty-five or thirty of the principal citi- 
zens of Lexington taken at the time, every man of sound and sober 
judgment must allow that Pitcairn was at the time carried away by 
his feelings, and that the impression that haunted him for the re- 
mainder of his days was a species of delusion. 

As a man, the whole current of traditionary and other evidence 
sustains the position that he was high-minded and honorable. In form- 
ing our estimate of his character, we should discriminate between him 
and his superior officers. Some of them were selected from the known 
fact that they were hostile to America, and were sent here by the 
crown to execute the recent acts of Parliament. This was true of 
Gage, and several other general officers. Their presence was evidence 
of their hostility ; but it was not so with Pitcairn. We have no evi- 
dence that he justified the king's p^olicy toward the colonies. He 
certainly did not enter the service for the purpose of prosecuting the 
war against the colonists, and of compelling them to submit to the 
oppressive acts of Parliament, which virtually would convert them from 
free men into slaves. He was in the service of Great Britain early, 
and was commissioned captain in 1765, ten years before the com- 
mencement of the American Revolution ; and was made major in 
1771. He with his regiment was ordered to this country in 1774'. 
We cannot therefore class him with those who owed their position to 
their known hostility to the cause of freedom. From the character of 

till 1879, when Mrs. Elizabeth Putnam, relict of the late John P. Putnam 
of Cambridge, New York, and graiiddaughter-in-law of the patriotic general, 
generously and patriotically presented them to the town of Lexington. Tiiis 
act on the part of the generous donor is the more meritorious from the fact tliat 
she had had several liberal offers in coin for these interesting relics. But regard- 
ing them too sacred to be bought by money, and considering the place where 
they were first used to enforce oppression, and where they were captured, and 
dedicated to freedom's cause the same day, the most appropriate resting-place 
for them, and to show her profound regard for the memory of the first martyrs 
in the cause of hberty, she generously, without fee or reward, bestowed them 
upon Lexington. They were received with grateful emotion, and are carefully 
kept in the Lexington Library Hall, with other precious relics. They are in a 
good state of preservation ; and we trust that they are emblematic of the per- 
manency of our institutions, and of lasting gratitude to the worthy bene- 
factress. — C. H. 



326 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Jan. 

the man, the presumption would naturally be that he was opposed to 
the war rather than otherwise. At any rate we have no reason, from 
■what we know of the man, or from his acts here, to presume his per- 
sonal hostility to us or our cause. 

The whole current of evidence, traditionary and otherwise, repre- 
sents him as a gentleman in his manners, genial and courteous at all 
times, liberal in his feelings, and ready to perform an act of kindness 
whenever an opportunity presented itself. He is also represented as 
warm-hearted, impulsive, and credulous, true and trusty as a friend, 
and never guilty of a mean action. He was a favorite in his regi- 
ment, — esteemed by his men while living, and mourned when dead. 
Nor was this attachment confined to the British troops. He was more 
popular among the citizens of Boston than any other of their officers, 
and it was said that in case a difficulty arose between the citizens and 
the British troops, Pitcairn was the only man among them from whom 
they could obtain justice. 

This much we are compelled to say in vindication of what we be- 
lieve to have been the much-injured name of Major Pitcairn. 

His active self-devotion of which we have spoken continued to the 
last. At the attack on the American works on Bunker Hill, he was 
twice repulsed, and wounded at the head of his column ; but on the 
third effort, at the head of the brave men he led, he was among the 
first to climb the breastwork, and fell in the redoubt which controlled 
the fortunes of the day. He was carried to a house near the ferry, 
where he soon expired. He was buried under Christ Church in Bos- 
ton. Some years after, his friends in J^ngland sent for his remains ; 
and it has always been reported that another gentleman whose form 
and size much resembled Pitcairn's was buried under the same church, 
and his remains by mistake were sent instead of Pitcairn's, so it is 
doubtful to this day whether the monument in Westminster Abbey 
erected in honor of John Pitcairn covers his remains or not. 



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